Off With The Splint

The racing greyhound orthopedic specialist in Florida looked at Riley's x-rays from Monday and feels there is a "clinical union" and that when magnified you can see healing has occured.  Also, that the bone chip has been there the entire time.  It has never moved and it probably is not going to move.  Since the location is not one of high stress or pressure, he suggested we put her into a soft bandage for four weeks to allow for more healing.

Since greyhounds are so prone to pressure sores and even more so in a soft bandage (more freedom to move = more rubbing), Dr. G was considering that we maybe leave her unbandaged since I have done a good job at restricting her activity.  I offered that I was comfortable with bandaging her myself and could proceed with the soft bandage suggestion, but change it every couple of days so we can check on sores.  He liked that idea so we decided that we would try to keep her in a soft bandage for two weeks and then unbandaged for an additional two weeks.  During this time, her activity needs to be strictly restricted.  We will then x-ray her and go from there.

So I am feeling more optimistic and less like a crazy person now.  I am hopeful I will be taking pictures likes this one again in the future.

I have decided to pull out of the AKC Agility Invitational in December though.  If everything goes perfectly from here, I suppose she still could be ready, but it would be our first trial back.  More pressure to do well than I need.  At this point, I just want to have fun again.